The work that the Mental Health Commission has undertaken over the last 10 years has made some inroads into making our communities feel stronger—that there is a place for us and that Canada and Canadians are willing to make the investments in housing, social supports, employment opportunities, and choice. We still have a tremendous amount of distance to cover; we believe that we can get there together.
Here are a few of the areas where we have found success for our community in the work we have undertaken over the last 10 years.
Over the past several years, we have developed different leadership and pre-employment programs that have assisted people in gaining access to employment and moving out of poverty. In 2005, we developed a program called Voices from the Street, which was designed to have people with lived experience of poverty, mental health issues, and addictions provide education on these issues to members of the public and sit at the table where policy-makers were making decisions. Over the past decade, members of Voices from the Street have spoken to thousands to people, including students, nurses, resident physicians, social service workers, psychiatrists, and policy-makers. Women Speak Out, our women speakers bureau, adds a gender lens to issues and includes the voices of women who have experienced domestic violence, poverty, and newcomer or refugee challenges.
As our speakers bureau grew, we also found that many of our graduates desperately wanted to find employment, particularly in the social services area. We now offer two pre-employment programs. One trains people on social assistance to work in the food services or horticultural fields. The second program offers relief worker training to people with lived experience of poverty so that they can find employment in drop-ins, shelters, and social housing settings. Our intensive 12-week programs combine sessions that recognize the struggles that people living on social assistance face with sessions that build their confidence. Participants then learn very practical skills for employment in food services, horticulture, or social services, as well as job search techniques. To date, approximately two-thirds of our graduates have found full- or part-time employment.